Oscars 2017: Constance Wu criticises film industry over Casey Affleck nomination for Manchester by the Sea
Wu is an increasingly prolific voice on issues surrounding diversity in Hollywood
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Your support makes all the difference.Constance Wu has criticised the Oscars after Casey Affleck was nominated for a Best Actor award, citing sexual harassment allegations that were brought against the actor in 2010.
The American actress, who stars as Jessica Huang in Fresh Off the Boat, is an increasingly prolific voice on Hollywood's diversity issues.
Following the Oscar nominations announcement, she spoke out against Affleck's Oscar nod for Manchester by the Sea and criticised both the industry and media's reluctance to discuss allegations of verbal abuse and sexual assault against the 41-year-old actor made in 2010.
Posting on her Twitter account, she said that she had been counselled “not to talk” about issues surround Affleck “for career's sake”.
“F my career then,” she continued. “I'm a woman and human first. That's what my craft is built on.”
In other tweets following the Oscar nominations announcement she wrote: “Men who sexually harass women 4 OSCAR! Bc good acting performance matters more than humanity, human integrity! Bc poor kid rly needs the help!...
“Boys! BUY your way out of trouble by settling out of court! Just do a good acting job, that's all that matters! bc art isn't about humanity, right?”
She also linked to a piece she had written about “how Casey Affleck's win will be a nod to Trump's”, which read:
“Right, he's not running for Prez [sic]. He's running for an award that honours a craft whose purpose is examining the dignity of the human experience, and young women are deeply human.
“The absence of awards doesn't diminish a great performance. That's on the page, or screen, as it were... and the opportunity to even DO the part is a tremendous honour in and of itself...
“Art doesn't exist for the sake of awards, but awards DO exist for all that art is trying to accomplish in life. So context matters. It's why art exists. I know it's just an award but I guess I'm in this career, not for awards, but because the treatment of human life matters to me. So I stand the f*** up for it.”
Affleck, who is the younger brother of actor, director and producer Ben Affleck, was accused of sexual harassment by two women - Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka - who worked on his infamous project I'm Still Here in 2010.
In her complaint, Gorka described her treatment by Affleck as “the most traumatising of her career”.
The allegations in the two suits ranged from unprofessional behaviour to physical intimidation.
Affeck denied all the allegations, however he eventually agreed to settle with both women. No details of any financial settlement have been released to the public.
Asked to comment on the two suits in a Variety profile published in October 2016, Affleck responded: "People say whatever they want. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you respond… I guess people think if you’re well-known, it’s perfectly fine to say anything you want.
"I don’t know why that is. But it shouldn’t be, because everyone has families and lives."
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